Texas A&M jumped 14 spots. So did Arizona. Arkansas shot up 28 places. Oregon and Mississippi State improved by eight slots each. Of the 12 Power 5 college football programs that changed coaches late in the fall of 2017, eight saw an improvement Wednesday — seven of them by a healthy margin — over their 247Sports.com national composite recruiting ranking from a year ago.

Or as Yoda might say: On one recruiting cycle, judge Mel Tucker not.

“You never usually have a good class your first signing day,” former Colorado Buffaloes assistant coach and current Big Ten Network television pundit Gerry DiNardo told The Post. “That (cycle) certainly has changed for first-year coaches. (Minnesota’s) P.J. Fleck, he talked the administration into calling his first year, ‘Year Zero.’ And now he just finished ‘Year 1.’ That’s another approach.”

FBS coaches don’t have to just hit the ground running anymore. They’re expected to turn up at a full-on Usain Bolt sprint.

CU introduced Tucker as its new coach Dec. 5. The new early National Signing Day period for Division I prospects runs Wednesday through Friday. It’s hard enough for a coach to master the first names of the guys down the hall in two weeks, let alone the names of two dozen prospects and their parents-slash-guardians upon whom the ceiling of your program, and your job security, depend.

“(The early signing period) is hard, I think, for a couple of reasons,” Brandon Huffman, national recruiting editor with 247Sports.com, said of the challenge facing Tucker. “First, it (depends on) what kind of system are you installing. Are the guys who are already committed, do they gel with what you do?

“How do you kindly let others go, massage those relationships, when you may tell other kids, ‘We don’t have room for you, we’re going in a different direction,’ particularly if it’s an in-state kid? Scott Satterfield (at Louisville) came in and basically told half the class to look elsewhere and now you’ve got Kentucky high school coaches up in arms saying, ‘We’re never going to let him recruit here.’ ”

CU ended the first afternoon of the early period with 17 signees, a class that included, most notably, 4-star California wideout Braedin Huffman-Dixon. Huffman and his mates slotted Tucker’s first class at No. 59 nationally as of late Wednesday afternoon, and No. 10 in the Pac-12. The Buffs were 52nd on 247’s national composite rankings, and also 10th in the league, when recruiting was finished last February.

A flying start, it wasn’t, but consider this, too: Of CU’s previous five classes under Mike MacIntyre, only one — 2017 — ranked among 247’s national top 40 (No. 35, eighth in the Pac-12). The previous regime’s first class, in 2013, ranked No. 68 nationally; its second, in 2014, dipped to No. 74.

“I think it’s a lot more difficult when you don’t already have established relationships in the region,” Huffman said. “Kirby Smart is a good example — he went from Alabama to Georgia, he was already recruiting in Georgia’s footprint. You look last year in the Pac-12, (Oregon State coach) Jonathan Smith was already recruiting the Northwest, already had relationships and he knew the west coast. (UCLA coach) Chip Kelly has already recruited in the Pac-12, already recruited the west coast.

“There are so many factors but it’s hard when you don’t have existing recruiting ties in that region. Which I think was a big reason why Darrin (Chiaverini) was kept on board, besides the fact he’s a really good (position coach) and he’s a phenomenal recruiter who loves Colorado.”

The Buffs still lost eight commits over the past month, however, most notably Palmer Ridge High quarterback Ty Evans. But on balance, without holdovers such as Chiaverini, Darian Hagan and Ross Els, it could’ve been worse. The 11 Power 5 schools that hired new coaches between Nov. 19 and Dec. 19 of last year saw an average of 9.27 decommits on or before the Dec. 20, 2017 early signing date, according to the 247Sports. UCLA lost 11 kids. Florida State lost 14. Tennessee saw 18 fly.

“He’s fortunate that he kept three guys that were in the recruiting process all along with all these guys, so that makes it a little bit easier,” CU radio analyst and former Buffs coach Gary Barnett said. “If he brings in a completely new staff, he’s going to lose more than the three-four-five (recruits) they’re going to lose now.”

Tucker’s last two stops, Georgia (2016-2018) and Alabama (2015), wound up with the No. 2 and No. 1 recruiting classes, respectively, at the end of business Wednesday. The man knows where the big fish bite. It’s just a question of bait.

“The good thing is there are going to be a lot of kids available (in February),” Barnett said. “If I had (high school) players I thought could play in the Power 5 but had only got, at this point, no Power 5 offers, I would tell them, ‘Don’t sign because, believe me, there are going to be guys that aren’t getting who they think they’re going to get.”

More in Colorado Buffaloes

Prosecutors and investigators on Friday detailed the rising tensions between the two neighbors, a combative relationship that ended with the fatal shooting of the 46-year-old Cunningham, an assistant high school principal in Aurora and former University of Colorado football star.

The Pac-12’s new scheduling mandate, handed down Monday, could put the kibosh on CU seeking future games with the likes of Air Force, Northern Colorado and Denver, three of the Buffs' nearest in-state Division I brethren.